What really happened to Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 楊佳穎 118-30

Though Oedipus would dodge death, vanquish the monstrous Sphinx,

儘管伊底帕斯會逃過死劫，

打敗可怕的斯芬克斯，

and whether wrathful plagues,

並平安度過憤怒的瘟疫，

the truth would prove his greatest challenger.

真相卻將帶給他最大的挑戰。

When Oedipus’ mother, Queen Jocasta of Thebes,

當伊底帕斯的母親，

底比斯的柔卡絲塔王后，生下他時，

gave birth to him, a grim heir seized the occasion.

一股陰鬱的氛圍籠罩著這一刻。

Her husband, King Laius, had received a prophecy from Apollo’s oracle

她的丈夫，萊瑤斯國王，

從阿波羅的祭司得到了一個神諭，

foretelling that he would die at the hands of his own son.

預言他將來會死在自己兒子的手上。

Determined to escape this fate, Laius had the newborn’s ankles pierced,

下定決心要擺脫這個命運，

萊瑤斯刺穿了這個新生兒的腳踝，

and Jocasta ordered a shepherd to abandon him on Mount Cithaeron to perish.

柔卡絲塔則命令一位牧羊人

把新生兒丟在季賽榮山上等死。

But divine prophecies can be quite stubborn.

但神聖的預言可是相當固執的。

The shepherd took pity on the baby and gave him to to another shepherd—

牧羊人對嬰兒起了惻隱之心，

把他交給了另一位牧羊人——

this one from Corinth.

來自科林斯的牧羊人。

He decided to bring the baby to the childless Corinthian king and queen,

他決定將嬰兒帶給沒有孩子的 科林斯國王和王后，

Polybus and Merope.

波呂玻斯和墨洛珀。

They called the boy Oedipus, or “swollen-foot,”

他們把這個男孩稱為伊底帕斯， 意思是「腫脹的腳」，

and raised him as their own, never revealing his true origin.

把他當自己的孩子來養，

從未提起他真正的身世。

Years passed, till one night,

直到多年後的一個晚上， 一位喝醉的縱酒狂歡者

a drunken reveler told Oedipus that he was not Polybus and Merope’s son by birth—

告訴伊底帕斯，他不是 波呂玻斯和墨洛珀親生的——

an allegation they staunchly denied.

他們堅決否認這項指控。

But the seeds of doubt burrowed into Oedipus’ mind.

但懷疑的種子已埋進 伊底帕斯的心中。

He left to seek counsel from Apollo’s oracle at Delphi,

他離開，前往德爾斐， 去尋求阿波羅的神諭，

who instead delivered a deeply disturbing prophecy:

阿波羅的預言反而讓他深深憂慮：

Oedipus would murder his father and have children with his mother.

伊底帕斯將來會殺死他的父親， 並與他的母親生孩子。

Horrified, Oedipus determined to stay far from Corinth

被嚇壞的伊底帕斯決定遠離科林斯

and the only parents he’d ever known.

以及他唯一認識的父母。

He ventured towards Thebes— and thus, unwittingly,

他冒險前往底比斯，

因而也無意間朝向他生父母 統治的城市前進。

towards the city where his birth parents reigned.

At a crossroads on the way,

在路上的一個十字路口，

a fancy carriage threatened to run Oedipus off the road,

一輛很炫的馬車威脅 要把伊底帕斯驅離道路，

and a lethal fight ensued.

接著就爆發致命的衝突。

Little did Oedipus know, one of the casualties was King Laius of Thebes,

伊底帕斯並不知道，傷亡者之一

正是底比斯國王萊瑤斯，

his own birth father.

他的生父。

In killing him, Oedipus had fulfilled the first half of Apollo’s prophecy.

殺死他時，伊底帕斯也就 實現了阿波羅預言的前半段。

When Oedipus reached the gates of Thebes, he was met by the treacherous Sphinx.

伊底帕斯到底比斯的城門時， 遇到狡詐的斯芬克斯。

She’d ravaged the city,

她已經蹂躪了這座城市，

posing a bewildering riddle to those she encountered

對她遇到的人提出 一個讓人困惑的謎題，

and mercilessly devouring all who answered incorrectly.

答錯的人就會被她無情地吞噬。

But when she fixed her keen, expectant gaze on Oedipus,

但，當她用銳利且期待的 目光盯著伊底帕斯時，

he gave the correct response.

伊底帕斯給出了正確的答案。

Thebes celebrated the Sphinx's defeat,

底比斯人慶祝斯芬克斯被打敗，

and Oedipus married the city's recently widowed queen, Jocasta.

而伊底帕斯則娶了該城市 剛成為寡婦的王后柔卡絲塔。

They had four children, neither realizing they were, in fact, mother and son—

他們生了四個孩子，

兩人都不知道，他們其實是母子——

or that they’d completed the second half of Apollo’s prophecy.

也不知道他們完成了 阿波羅預言的後半段。

Eventually, a devastating plague descended on Thebes.

最終，一場毀滅性的瘟疫 降臨到底比斯。

To save the city, Oedipus sent his brother-in-law to consult Apollo’s oracle.

為了拯救該城市，伊底帕斯派了 他的連襟去諮詢阿波羅的祭司。

She declared that the divine plague would only relent

她表示，要讓神的瘟疫 消失只有一途，

if the killer of Thebes’ previous king, Laius,

就是把殺死底比斯前任國王 萊瑤斯的兇手找出來，

was finally revealed, then driven out or avenged with blood.

接著將他驅逐或血債血還。

Oedipus hastily opened an investigation.

伊底帕斯倉促地開展調查。

He interrogated Tiresias, a blind prophet,

他質問了盲人先知特伊西亞斯，

who stayed silent before suggesting that Oedipus himself was the killer.

先知一直保持沉默，後來才暗示

伊底帕斯本人就是兇手。

Oedipus denied and deflected the accusation.

伊底帕斯否認，並轉移了這項指控。

But it stuck with him.

但此事一直卡在他心頭。

Jocasta likewise insisted that Laius’ killer couldn’t have been Oedipus,

柔卡絲塔同樣也堅持

殺死萊瑤斯的人不可能是伊底帕斯，

for she'd heard that Laius was killed at a crossroads by robbers.

因為她聽說萊瑤斯 是在十字路口被搶匪給殺死。

Yet, through conversations with a messenger from Corinth and, finally,

然而，透過和科林斯的使者交談，

以及，終於，在他兒時 拯救他的牧羊人也發聲，

the shepherd who’d rescued him as an infant,

the truth came bearing down upon Oedipus.

真相給了伊底帕斯當頭棒喝。

In searching for Laius’ murderer, he’d been looking for himself,

在尋找殺死萊瑤斯的人時， 他其實一直在找他自己，

and Apollo’s prophecy had come to pass, in all its dreadful detail.

而阿波羅的預言已成真，

其所有可怕的細節都實現了。

Full of fury, resentment, and shame, Oedipus rushed to kill Jocasta—

帶著滿腔怒火、怨恨，和羞恥，

伊底帕斯趕著要去殺柔卡絲塔——

but she too had realized the truth and taken her own life.

但她也知道了真相， 結束了自己的生命。

Using brooches from her dress, Oedipus blinded himself in anguish,

取下她衣服上的胸針，

伊底帕斯在極度的 痛苦中刺瞎了自己，

expunging his deceitful sense of sight,

抹除了他那欺騙人的視覺，

which had kept him from truly seeing so much.

過去，這視覺讓他無法看清許多事。

Oedipus begged for exile,

伊底帕斯請求流放，

but was led back into the castle to await word from Apollo’s oracle.

但被帶回城堡，

等著聽阿波羅的神諭。

Thus ends Sophocles’ first play centering Oedipus.

索福克里斯第一部以伊底帕斯 為中心的作品在此告一段落。

But it wouldn’t be his final word on the tragic hero.

但這不會是他對這位 悲劇英雄的最後描述。

Decades later, a roughly 89-year-old Sophocles wrote its sequel,

數十年後，約八十九歲的 索福克里斯

寫了一部續集，

set in Colonus, his own birthplace.

場景設定在科洛納斯， 他自己的出生地。

It finds Oedipus, now aged and exiled,

故事中的伊底帕斯 已經年邁且被放逐，

confronted with accusations of incest and patricide.

面臨亂倫和殺父的指控。

Oedipus, having accepted the truth and released himself from its shame,

伊底帕斯已經接受了真相， 也不再為此感到羞恥，

proclaims his innocence and maintains that he committed these deeds unwittingly—

他表明他是無辜的， 主張他做出這些事時

既不知情也不情願。

and unwillingly.

Finally, Oedipus knows it’s time to go— and a divine voice urges him on.

最後，伊底帕斯知道 該是離開的時候了——

一個神聖的聲音催促著他。

Having said his loving farewells,

在深情告別之後，

Oedipus then transcends— peacefully and marvelously— into death.

伊底帕斯平靜且非凡地超脫世俗——

進入死亡。